Latest news with #NorthCarolinaHouseAgricultureandEnvironmentCommittee
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC House advances bill to mandate labeling of meat alternatives
The North Carolina House is advancing a bill that would mandate specific labeling for meat substitute products. (Photo: The North Carolina House Agriculture and Environment Committee approved on Wednesday a bill to regulate labels for meat alternatives, moving it to the House Rules Committee. HB 134, 'Prohibit Misbranding of Certain Food Products,' requires manufacturers to mark alternative protein products differently from meat. Specifically, a label for a 'manufactured-protein food product' with an 'identifying meat term' would be required to have an 'appropriate qualifying term' such as 'cell-cultured,' 'fake,' 'lab-grown,' or 'grown in a lab' in 20-point or greater font. Meat products refer to foods made wholly or partially from meat — for example, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, bison, or deer — and excludes products that contain very small amounts of meat or have not traditionally been considered meat. Poultry products would be marketed separately. 'What we want is the consumer informed, and to the best of our ability, that's what this bill does,' Rep. Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin, Wayne), the primary sponsor and committee chair, said. 'Properly label it.' Rep. Sarah Crawford (D-Wake) asked about the 20-point font requirement. Chris Saunders, a legislative analyst, clarified the label would need to be in either 20-point font or the size of the surrounding text, whichever is greater. 'Twenty-point font is about half an inch tall,' he said. 'Most product labels are probably going to default to the surrounding text.' Rep. Deb Butler (D-New Hanover) mentioned how moving towards self-cultured meat is likely inevitable in the future. She noted that it has the potential to reduce greenhouse emissions, cure hunger, and increase the humane treatment of animals and other creatures. But with it being new, Butler described it as a 'disruption' in the same way Uber served as a disruption to the transportation industry. Butler said she isn't opposed to accurately labeling food products, but she's concerned about the bill's implications. 'It feels like we are trying to stifle competition. It feels like we are trying to crush an industry before it gets started,' she said. 'I'm concerned that we are creating a regulatory barrier here, trying to stifle innovation rather than accurately labeling.'
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill targeting ESG for farmers advances to next NC House committee
A farmer harvests soybeans. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service photo by Brandon O'Connor. The North Carolina House Agriculture and Environment Committee voted Wednesday to approve legislation targeting socially responsible lending in agriculture, moving the measure to the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. Sponsors explain House Bill 62, the 'Farmers Protection Act,' as a measure to prevent banks and credit unions from using discriminatory practices against farmers in the state. It's sponsored by Reps. Neal Jackson (R-Moore, Randolph), Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin, Wayne), Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson), and Karl Gillespie (R-Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon). Rather than race or gender, the bill targets 'ESG' — short for 'environmental, social, governance,' a method for evaluating sustainability performance. The proposal purports to ban banks and credit unions from denying service to agriculture producers based on their greenhouse gas emissions, use of fossil-fuel derived fertilizer, or use of fossil-fuel powered machinery, according to the bill text. 'It says you cannot deny cancel financial services based upon a farmer's ESG score or rating,' Jackson said. 'Figure it based upon if they have good credit or not, but not based upon their ESG score.' The House Judiciary 1 Committee approved the legislation at the end of February. Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) reminded members of the earlier discussion, where Jackson offered the bill is a preventative measure. 'You indicated in that discussion that there wasn't any evidence of this happening right now among North Carolina banks and with North Carolina farmers, but it was part of a national effort anticipating what might happen,' she said. Mark Swallow spoke during the bill's public comment section as a representative of Democracy Out Loud. He said there's a reason ESG exists — as a protective measure, not a punitive one. 'It's meant to make sure, as the climate is changing, that we can survive in it, including farming,' he said. 'To try and de-incentivize bankers, you should be incentivizing farmers to do what they need to do to live up to those standards, because if they want to continue farming, they need to make those changes.' On Wednesday, the committee also voted to advance HB 164, 'Protect North Carolina Sawmills,' to the House Rules Committee.
